Canadian Railroads > CP's Hump Braking Units

I shot these pictures of CP's HBU 1152 working the west end of Toronto Yard back in September 2007.  Although I found out the history of this particular unit, Google has not been my friend when it came to learning how it worked and what it actually did.  Any information about this would me much appreciated.

Cheers & Happy New Year,
Dwayne

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Does this ever raise questions!!!!

Two, perhaps three, doors.  No windows.  One horn.  Who blows it?  How?  Why?

Toilet vent?  Or, maybe it's an antenna.  No, there's another radio antenna.

What's under the hood?  Concrete?  Why?  (Maybe it's a slug.)

What's under the short hood, a biffy?  Why?  For whom?

And (perhaps) finally - Why?

Can't wait to see one of these at Pigs Eye.  Post it when you see it.

-LD



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/29/21 15:24 by LarryDoyle.

LarryDoyle Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Does this ever raise questions!!!!
>
> Two, perhaps three, doors.  No windows.  One
> horn.  Who blows it?  How?  Why?
>
> Toilet vent?  Or, maybe it's an antenna.  No,
> there's another radio antenna.
>
> What's under the hood?  Concrete?  Why?  (Maybe
> it's a slug.)
>
> What's under the short hood, a biffy?  Why?  For
> whom?
>
> And (perhaps) finally - Why?
>
> Can't wait to see one of these at Pigs Eye.  Post
> it when you see it.
>
> -LD

Unit started out as a MILW GP9, had been rebuilt into a chopped nose GP9 by MILW, acquired by SOO when they took over the MILW, they converted it to a Fuel Tender, CP converted to a HBU.
The "cab" appears to have remote control equipment judging by the antennas and strobe lights.

LarryDoyle Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Does this ever raise questions!!!!
>
> Two, perhaps three, doors.  No windows.  One
> horn.  Who blows it?  How?  Why?
>
> Toilet vent?  Or, maybe it's an antenna.  No,
> there's another radio antenna.
>
> What's under the hood?  Concrete?  Why?  (Maybe
> it's a slug.)
>
> What's under the short hood, a biffy?  Why?  For
> whom?
>
> And (perhaps) finally - Why?
>
> Can't wait to see one of these at Pigs Eye.  Post
> it when you see it.
>
> -LD

I've had many of those same questions, but I haven't been able to find any answers yet.  As for posting any more pictures, this unit was retired in 2012 and sold for scrap in 2013 so no chance of that.

Cheers,
Dwayne

 Hi So what is a HBU please?? Thanks in advance,Cheers Brian in New Zealand..

> Unit started out as a MILW GP9, had been rebuilt
> into a chopped nose GP9 by MILW, acquired by SOO
> when they took over the MILW, they converted it to
> a Fuel Tender, CP converted to a HBU.
> The "cab" appears to have remote control equipment
> judging by the antennas and strobe lights.

RogersPass Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>  Hi So what is a HBU please?? Thanks in
> advance,Cheers Brian in New Zealand.

Hump Braking Unit - that's all I know, everything else about it is a mystery to me.

Cheers,
Dwayne

RogersPass Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>  Hi So what is a HBU please?? Thanks in
> advance,Cheers Brian in New Zealand..
>

Brian, what is the thread title?    ;-)

 

PHall Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> RogersPass Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> >  Hi So what is a HBU please?? Thanks in
> > advance,Cheers Brian in New Zealand..
> >
>
> Brian, what is the thread title?    ;-)
>
>  
PHall, I'm sure Brian and at least a few of the rest of us have figured that out.  But, pray tell, please share with us your knowledge of exactly what function it served, or was intended to serve, and who, what, where, when, how,, and why.  Where have you experienced one such a unit, and how did its inventor\designer, builder, owner, operator, or stockholder purport to improve the lives of anyone - management, operations, or stockholders, for example.

I'm 10 miles from the CP's last remaining hump and have observed (and experienced) its operations since 1951 when it was built, but cannot figure out what was the intention of building an HBU?

Share with us, please.

"Having redoubled our efforts, we have have lost sight of our objective"    - Pogo

-LD



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/30/21 15:44 by LarryDoyle.

Nice record of a real odd-ball. Thanks for sharing this.
Fred

LarryDoyle Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> PHall Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > RogersPass Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > >  Hi So what is a HBU please?? Thanks in
> > > advance,Cheers Brian in New Zealand..
> > >
> >
> > Brian, what is the thread title?    ;-)
> >
> >  
> PHall, I'm sure Brian and at least a few of the
> rest of us have figured that out.  But, pray
> tell, please share with us your knowledge of
> exactly what function it served, or was intended
> to serve, and who, what, where, when, how,, and
> why.  Where have you experienced one such a unit,
> and how did its inventor\designer, builder, owner,
> operator, or stockholder purport to improve the
> lives of anyone - management, operations, or
> stockholders, for example.
>
> I'm 10 miles from the CP's last remaining hump and
> have observed (and experienced) its operations
> since 1951 when it was built, but cannot figure
> out what was the intention of building an HBU?
>
> Share with us, please.
>
> "Having redoubled our efforts, we have have lost
> sight of our objective"    - Pogo
>
> -LD

My source of infomation was a quick google search using CP 1152 as the search terms.
CP had a few other HBUs that were retired GMD SW units. I believe their purpose was to add additional braking power to the hump sets.
 

Yes it's just basically a heavy car with MU connections and the brakes set up to work with the power unit's independant brake....it also has remote control equipment so a non remotable power unit can be used in remote service....however it is used it gives an extra set of brakes which in switching is often needed for a variety of moves.